"Golden pine syndrome," or "Florida Pine Decline," refers to a condition of pine trees or other native trees resulting from chlorosis, which is a deficiency in chlorophyll production of a plant. Chlorosis is the result of the use of alkaline irrigation water containing high concentrations of calcium. This phenomena is particularly prevalent among those pine or other native trees located on golf courses. Metals such as iron, manganese and zinc are essential nutrients for the production of chlorophyll in plants. However, calcium rich water inhibits a plant's ability to process these nutrients for the production of chlorophyll.
Calcium ions have a similar charge as metal ions iron, manganese and zinc; therefore, the increased amount of calcium repels the metal ions, physically preventing reaction of the metals for the production of chlorophyl. In fact chlorophyll plants must live off stored energy reserves which accounts for the slow but steady decline of affected trees. Calcium is a "luxury consumption" element so it tends to be more readily absorbed than other elements. Calcium consequently blocks reactions of metals within the plants retarding the production of chlorophyl.
Accordingly, pine trees' food sources have been supplemented with mixtures of iron sulfate, zinc sulfate and manganese sulfate with water for treatment of pine trees. Such an aqueous solution included 5% water soluble iron, 0.4% manganese, and 2% zinc. These metals provide an aqueous solution in the form of acidic solutions of sulfates. In aqueous solutions, these sulfates ionize providing increased amounts of iron, zinc and manganese ions for chlorophyl production desperately needed by the pine tree. However, there is a need for an inexpensive source of these metal supplements.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,545 discloses the process for the disposal of waste pickle liquor in the production of fertilizer. The '545 patent discloses a process whereby waste production from acid treatment of ferrous metals is treated with a nitrogen-rich compound (urea) to produce a fertilizer for plants. The end product desired has a 6% by weight iron content and a 15% by weight nitrogen content. The pickling process itself is described in the '545 patent. Urea is added to the waste pickle liquor by adding one part by weight urea to two parts by weight pickle liquor to achieve the desired percent by weight of iron. Unfortunately the commercial sources of urea are expensive. In addition, the pH of this solution is about 2 which may not be sufficiently acidic to lower the pH of the soil to a more tolerable level for the trees. Moreover, such a solution does not contain zinc or manganese which has been found to be essential in the treatment of Golden Pine Syndrome.